

As chaos reigns around them, and their situation becomes more twisted and implausible, the two leads capture the player’s heart and attention with dedicated and resilient performances. Main stars Kanata Hongo and Chiaki Kuriyama (of Battle Royale fame) make for arresting and very likable leads. Death Come True, despite its small cast, budget, and location, is beautifully shot and expertly performed. What helps keep players invested in Death Come True, despite the persistently uneasy disconnection that features in most FMV titles, is that the “movie” on offer is classy, engaging – and eventually – completely enthralling. But ultimately, it is the spine of Izanagi’s narrative, and eventually gives way to a little more lateral thinking come Act Three. For the first half-hour of Death Come True, you feel utterly helpless, perhaps even cheated by the game’s “both roads are the wrong road” dynamic. This can make for a very frustrating experience early on, with a distinct lack of satisfaction on the player’s behalf. In fact, you may find that both decisions take our hero to an untimely end, either by accident or design. Yes, the viewer is offered choices – selecting actions and decisions as Makoto tries to piece together the eerie events that surround him – but these are mostly 50/50 affairs, with little clue as to which is the “correct” path. Over the two-hour story, players will mostly have little agency in events. However, where Death Come True differs from other examples of the genre is that while Makoto’s journey will see him come to an abrupt end – readily and often – these fates will actually cause his personal narrative to progress. Taking the lead from FMV titles that have come before, Death Come True presents the player (see “viewer”) with a live-action movie, pausing briefly to offer choices as to what our boy Makoto should do next. So begins Death Come True, an FMV thriller co-developed by indie outfit Esquadra and produced by Izanagi’s own studio, Too Kyo Games. Amazingly, this is just the beginning of Makoto’s problems, in what is about to become the longest day of his entire life.
#DARK NIGHTS WITH POE AND MUNRO PS4 SERIAL#
Oh, and he has a Special Investigator tied-up in his bathtub… and the TV is telling him he’s a wanted serial killer.

Nor does he know that he’s Makoto Karaki. The only problem is, he doesn’t know how he got there. Young Makoto Karaki is awakened by a ringing telephone to find himself lounging in an opulent and lavish hotel suite. It appears the once-maligned “Interactive Movie” is seeing a resurgence, finally earning the critical acclaim that evaded Make My Video: Marky Mark. These games utilise the same FMV framework but feature crisp HD video, a modern presentation, and an innovative approach to agency. Recent years saw titles such as Telling Lies, Dark Nights with Poe and Munro, and the award-winning Her Story totally reinvent the genre.

Once considered the future of gaming by starry-eyed pioneers, Full-Motion-Video games were fast proven linear and short-lived experiences, generally suffering from repetitive gameplay, poor video quality, and an overall lack of interactivity, despite the best efforts of Megan and her fucking tennis racquet.īut despite sentencing Wirehead, Prize Fighter, and Quarterback Attack with Mike Ditka to the Hall of Infamy, the FMV genre has had its share of engaging releases. In regards to video games, you can define the phrase “dice-roll” with three simple letters: FMV.
